The woman came running and looked into the can, and there was a tiny lady very magnificently dressed, like a Ranee, and when she stepped out from the can she was so beautiful that the whole room shone as though there were a star in it.
The old man and woman could hardly believe their eyes. They were frightened, and yet they were delighted.
The old woman said, “Now I am happy again as I have never been happy since the eagles flew away with my little baby daughter.”
When she said that, the small Ranee looked at her wonderingly, but she said nothing, for it seemed she could not speak.
After that the beautiful stranger lived there in the house with the old man and woman, and every day she grew so fast that at the end of a month she was as tall as an ordinary woman, but still she could not speak.
It was not long before people knew that a most beautiful lady dressed like a Ranee was living with the old peasants. The news came even to the palace, so the Rajah heard about it, and he began to wonder whether it were possible this beautiful lady could be his lost Ranee. One day he set out with only his faithful councilor for company, and went to the house of the old peasants and knocked on the door.
The old woman who was Surya Bai’s mother looked out of the window, and when she saw the Rajah there, she was very much frightened. She took Surya Bai and hid her behind a heap of milk cans, for she feared if the Rajah saw the girl he might begin to ask questions and find how the mango had dropped into the can.
After the girl was hidden, the old woman opened the door.
“I wish to see the stranger who is living here with you, and who is so beautiful, and is dressed like a Ranee,” said the Rajah.
“I do not know what you mean,” cried the old woman. “No one lives here but me and my husband and children.”